Electrolytic process.



PATENTED NOV, 3. 1903.

E. HANNON. ELECTROLYTIC PROCESS.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 4, 1898.

NO MODEL.

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UNITED STATES fatented lfl'ovember 3, 1909;.

PATENT Enron.

PROCESS COMPANY, NEW YORK.

EDOUARD HANNON, OF BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, ASSIGNORTO THE SoLv Y on SYRACUSE,new YORK, A CORPORATION OF ELECTROLYTIC PROCESS;

.srncrrrcarroiv forming part of L'etters Patent No. 742,864, datedNovember 3, 1903.

Application filed October 4, 1898. Serial No. 692.603. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDOUARD HANNON, a subject of the King of Belgium,residing at Brussels, Belgium, have invented a new and 5 usefulElectrolytic Process, (for which I have filed applications for foreignLetters Patent as follows: in Belgium, No. 134,177, March 5, 1898; inGreat Britain, No. 7,470, March 28, 1898; in Germany, No. S. 11, 225/75,March 18, 1898; in Russia, No. 4,602, May 4/16, 1898; in France, No.266,676, June 14, 1898; in Switzerland, No. 18,973, July 28, 1898; inAustria, August 12, 1898, and in Hungary, No. 12,054, August 25, 1898,)of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention consists of asimple, practical, and effective electrolyticprocess particularly applicable for electrolyzing alkaline chlorids andother salts in the presence of a fluid electrode, as mercury, ashereinafter specifically described, and pointed out in the claim.

In describing this invention reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which like letters indicate corresponding parts in bothviews.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional View of an electrolytic apparatusparticulary applicable for carrying out my process. Fig. 2 is ahorizontal sectional view taken on line 2 2, Fig. 1.

In carrying out the present processes for electrolyzing alkalinechlorids and other salts in which fluid electrodes, as mercury, areutilized it is customary to efiect the circulation of the fluidelectrode by rocking the apparatus, by causing the electrode to flowalong an inclined surface or in spiral channels, or by displacing thesame by pistons, plungers, pumps, and otherdevices. These processes aremore or less objectionable,since if the movement of the fluid electrodeis arrested the supply thereof ceases,although the current continues topass. My process diflers from said processes in that the surface of thefluid electrode adjacent to the electrolyte is removed from theremaining portion of said electrode, and the portion of the electrolyteadjacent to the fluid electrode is caused to move along said adjacentsurface of the fluid electrode in the same direction as that of saidsurface during the removal thereof and is removed from said surface ofthe fluid electrode without being mixed therewith, thus continuallypresenting a fresh surface to the metal being liberated on the elec'trode, facilitating the removal of the liberated metal, and reducing toa minimum the liability of agitation of the electrode, the movingsurface thereof, and said liberated metal. The alkaline amalgam forms ingreatest quantity at the surface of the fluid electrode adjacent to theelectrolyte and tends to remain ,on said surface by reason of itslightness.

Consequently my process is particulary practical and effective, sincethe surface of the fluid electrode which is richest in alkaline metal ispositively and readily withdrawn without displacement of the remainingportion of the fluid electrode or agitation of said surface during itsremoval from said remaining portion of the electrode.

In order that my process may be readily understood, I have shown andwill briefly describe an electrolytic apparatus which is particularlyapplicable for carrying out said process. This apparatus is composed ofa receptacle A for receiving the electrolyte and a fluid electrode, asmercury, and suitable means for removing the upper surface of theelectrode from above the underlying body thereof and for movingthecontiguous portion of the electrolyte along said surface in the samedirection as that of said surface and during the removal thereof and forremoving said contiguous portion of the electrolyte without mixing thesame with said surface of the electrode. Said receptacle is composed ofhard rubber, glass, or other suitable material and is provided withchambers a a, arranged side by side at its base o The fluid electrode isadmitted to one side of the chamber a by a supply-reservoir a andoverflows from the opposite side of said chamber into the chamber a. Thereservoir a is supplied with fluid electrode by an inlet-conduit adischarging into said reservoir beneath the level of the fluid electrodetherein and connected to a suitable source, as a fluid-elevator a whichmay be of any desirable form, size, and construction. elevator consistsof a closed shell partly filled, as indicated by the dotted line thereinin Fig. 1, with the material, as mercury, forming the fluid electrode,an inlet-conduit for The illustrated fluid- 7 said material, anoutlet-conduit leading from a point below the level of the material tothe inlet-conduit a and a third conduit for discharging a suitable fluidunder pressure above said material and forcing the same through saidoutlet-conduit. The fluid electrode is withdrawn from the chambera' byan outlet-conduit a, which opens from the chamber (1' below the level ofthe fluid electrode therein and is so arranged and connected that thelevel of the fluid electrode within the chamber a, and conduit a isbelow the level of the fluid electrode in the chamber a.

The electrolyte within the receptacle A contains the alkaline chloridsor other salts to'be electrolyzed, is supported upon the fluid electrodein the chambers a a, and receives a suitable electrode, as a pluralityof conductors a which are connected to one of the branches or conductorsb of an electric circuit, having its other branch or conductor 6 passedthrough the bottom wall of the receptacle A and electrically connectedto the fluid electrode. Said electrolyte is conducted to and from thereceptacle A by inlet and outlet conduits a a", which communicate withthe receptacle A at points directly above the conduits a? a and causethe electrolyte to move along the adjacent or upper surface of the fluidelectrode in the chamber a in the same direction as that of said surfaceof the fluid electrode when overflowing from the chamber a to thechamber a for facilitating the removal of said surface of the fluidelectrode and reducing to a minimum the liability of agitation of theelectrode, the moving surface thereof, and the metal amalgam.

The described electrolytic apparatus is particularly applicable forcarrying out my process; but I do not limit my invention thereto, as anyother suitable means may be employed in carrying out said process.

My electrolytic process will now be readily understood upon reference tothe foregoing description and the accompanying drawings.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The herein-described electrolytic process, the same consisting inpassing an electric current through an electrolyte and a fluid electrodeadjacent thereto, in removing the surface of the fluid electrodeadjacent to the electrolyte from the remaining portion of saidelectrode, and in moving the electrolyte along said adjacent surface ofthe fluid electrode during the removal of said surface and in the samedirection as that of the movement thereof, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name, in the presence oftwo attesting witnesses, at Brussels, Belgium, this 1st day ofSeptember, 1898.

EDOUARD HANNON. Witnesses:

J. S. FiiRsrENKoFF, GREGORY PHELAN.

